Fire-alarm-signal box



(No Model.) zsneets-v-shet 1. J. ASHWORTI-I.

FIRE ALARM SIGNAL BOX.

No. 353,475. Patented Nov. 30, 1886l (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2. J. ASHWORTH.

FIRE ALARM SIGNAL BOX.

N0. 353,475. Patented NOV. 30, 1886.

Zhi/97W? MM www UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN ASHWORTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-ALARM- SIGNAL BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,475, dated November 30, 1886.

Application filed August 19, 1886. Serial No. 211,247. (No model.)

. To all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that I, J o HN AsnwoRTn, a citi- `zen of the United States, residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Alarm Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to au improvement upon what is commonly known asthe Tooker iirealarm box, wherein a gong or bell is sounded by and during the act of turning a handle, which operates to retract the latch, and thus vpermit the door of the box to be swung open. The obj ect of thusmechanically ringing a gong or bell is to sound a local alarm, in order that notice may be given of an attempt to open the box, and hence the surreptitious opening of the same by unauthorized persons be easily detected by reason of its unavoidable publicity. In said nre-alarm boxes as now constructed and in use the gong or bell striking mechanism is liable to and in some instances has become so clogged or impeded either by the bending of the hammer tongue or escapement, or by other injury to or disarrangement in its organization, as to prevent the handle from being turned in a manner to draw the bolt 0r latch. Said objectionable feature is due to the mode of connecting the handle with a gear or ratchet, by which an escapement-pawl carrying the tongue or hammer is operated, the connection 4between said gear and handle being in the nature of a positive-gear connection when the handle is turned to draw back the latch.

Experience has fully demonstrated the liability of a mechanism of the aforesaid characacterto get out of order to an extent to prevent the handle from being turned suiiiciently to open the box, and since the box is made of cast metal the time consumed in going to auother nre-alarm signal box, or in drill-ing through the box, so as to permit the latch to be pushed back, would at the occurrence of a fire occasion incalculable damage.

The object of my invention is to obviate said defect in fre-alarmsignal boxes and t0 provide means whereby, so long as the alarm mechanism is in working order, the operation of a device for drawing back thelatch or bolt shall likewise cause the operation of the alarm mechanism, while, on the other hand, should the alarm mechanism, from any cause whatsoever, become inoperative, the latch or bolt actuating device may still be freely operated for the purpose of drawing back the bolt or latch, although the alarm mechanism may be held stationary during such operation.

Further objects are to provide novel and improved details of construction tending tothe general efficiency of an apparatus for the foregoing speciiied purpose.

To the attainment of these and other useful ends my said improvement consists in matters hereinafter described,aud particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l represents in elevation t-heinuer side of the door of a firealarm box provided with an apparatus embodying the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section on the line a@ :v of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a detail section on theline z z of Fig.

2, and is mainly designed to show the coilspring G attached at one end to the spindle of a wheel belonging to the alarnrstrikiug mechanism, and at its other end attached to a hub or casing forming a portion of the cog or gear H, which latter is shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4 is a detail section on line z z, Fig. 1, said Figs. 3 and 4 being drawn on a` somewhat larger scale than the preceding figure. Fig. 5 represents, in perspective and on a smaller scale, the fire-alarm-signal box in a closed' condition.

In said drawings, A denotes as a whole an ordinary iire-alarmsignal box, provided at the front with a hinged door, A', as usual. The latching or locking mechanism and the localalarm mechanism are desirably arranged upon the inner side of the'door, which latter carries at its outer side a handle,B, that can be operated from without the box for the purpose of actuating the locking device or mechanism,for the twofold purpose of drawing back the latch or bolt and simultaneously therewith sounding the local alarm.

The locallalarm mechanism herein shown comprises a bell or gong, C, and a suitable striking device or contrivance-such, for example, as a pendulous hammer or clapper, D- attached to a pawl, E, that isoperated by a spur-wheel, F, in a manner somewhat similar to the operation of an ordinary anchor-escapement. The spur-wheel F is operated from the ICO handle of the locking mechanism through the medium of a connection wherein a coil or convolute spring, G, is interposed in a manner to interrupt but form a part of said connection, so as to provide between the latch or bolt operating device or mechanism and the alarm mechanism ayielding-spring resistance,which, in the event of the alarm mechanism becoming caught or otherwise impeded from free action, will yield suliciently to permit the latch-operating mechanism to be freely actuated for the purpose of drawing back the latch or bolt when the door is in a closed condition.

To the attainment of the foregoing end one end of the spring G is held in connection with the striking mechanism, while the remaining end of said spring is held in connection with a power-transmitting device or mechanism which,when the handleB is turned in a direction to draw back the latch or bolt,will be 0perated from said handle in a manner to Wind up the spring G.

As a simple and efficient .disposition of the spring G and means for winding up the same, the inner end of said spring can be secured to aspindle, F', upon which the spur-wheel F is fastened, and the outer end of said spring is connected With a small cog. H, arranged to run loose upon the spindle of the spur-wheel. Desirably, the cog H is at one end united to or expanded, so as to provide a marginally-flanged disk, H,which serves as a suitable casing for containing the spring G, the said spring being in such instance attached at its outer endlto the flange of said case, in which way the spring is conveniently disposed of, and at thesame time it is arranged to. constitute the sole connection between theloose cog H and the spurwheel of the striking mechanism. 'Ihe small cog His engaged by and operated from alarge gear, I, that is to be turned by or from the handle of thelatclroperating mechanism when said handle is operated in a manner to draw back the bolt K.

In order to permit the gear I to be operated from the handle when the latter is turned in a direction to draw back the bolt, and to cause said gear to be held stationary during a reverse movement on the part of the handle, the gear is arranged loose upon the spindle or shank B of the handle, and provided with a spring-controlled pawl, L, applied so as to e11- gage a ratchet-wheel, M, that is fixed upon the shank or spindle of the handle,whereby,when the handle is turned in a direction to'draw back the latch or bolt, a positive connection Will be extent to cause a prolonged operation of the alarm mechanism, the shank or spindle of the handle is provided at its inner end with a laterally-arranged lug or finger, B2, while the bolt or latch is provided with a stud or abutment, K', with which latter the finger of the handle-spindle can be brought in engagement, as in full lines, Fig. l, for the purpose of drawing back the bolt or latch. The handle is normally held by a spring, I), in position to hold the finger of its shank or spindle back against a stop, K2, upon the latch or bolt, the

said normal position of the finger being illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. l. When the handle is turned in a direction proper for throwing back the latch or bolt, the finger of the handlespindle will, before its engagement with the stud K upon the latch or bolt, have a clear sweep for the greater part of its circle, during which time the connection between the handle and the gear I will necessarily cause the latter to turn in a manner to operate the alarm mechanism. As soon as the linger of the handle-spindle is brought into engagement with the stud K on the latch or bolt the latter can be drawn back by a further turn of the handle, which operation will also cause a prolongation of the action of the alarm mechanism. When the handle is thus operated, it is turned against the resistance of spring P, which latter can be applied in any suitable way-as, for example, one end of said spring can be secured to a hub on one end or side of the ratchetwheel M, and its other end attached to any suitable flxture upon the inner side of the door-such, for instance, as to a stud, Q, rigid with a cross plate or bar, R, that is secured to the door and adapted to provide appropriate bearings both for the spindle of the spur or escapement wheell F and for the shank or spindle of the handle B. The latch or bolt is conveniently arranged to slide alongside said bar or plate It, and is provdedwith a slot, K3, through which the shank or spindle ofthe handle is arranged to extend, thereby permitting the desired latitude of movement on the part of said latch or bolt.

The latch or bolt is thrown to and normally held in its forward position by a spring, S, while the linger of the handle shank or spindle is normally held in its back position against the stud or stop K2 by means of the spring P, itbeing seen that after the handle has been turned to an extent suflicient to draw back the bolt and then released the spring P will serve to throw the handle into its said back position.

So long as the alarm mechanism is in perfect order,the operation of the handle or latch actuating device in a direction necessary to IOO draw back the latch or bolt will tend to wind t ISO mechanism become disarranged and prevented from acting from or by any cause whatsoeversuch,for example, as by such bending of the tongue ofthe hammer or by the bending or clogging of the pawl E or the wheel F-no obstacle will be offered to or placed in the way of the free Operation ofthe handle for the purpose ofdrawing back the bolt,since when the handle,nnder the aforesaid circumstances, is operated for such purpose,the spring G will still be free to be wound up, although the wheel F, with which it is connected, may be held stationary, the

` spring in such case simply presenting a yielding resistance in opposition to the operation of the latch or bolt actuating device.

While the special construction and arrangement of devices herein set forth are herein made the subjects of special claims, I desire to be understood, for the broader purposes of this invention, as covering in its broadest sense a yielding-spring resistance interposed in the connection between the localalarm mechanism and the latch or bolt operating device, and susceptible, when said alarm mechanism is in working condition,of transmitting power thereto from the latch or bolt operating device, but adapted, when the alarm mechanism is inoperative, to present to the operation of the latch or bolt actuating device a yielding resistance which shall in nowise prevent the latter from being operated in a manner to draw back the bolt, and thereby permit the door ofthe {ire-alarm-signal box to be opened.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, with a lire-alarm-signal box provided with a bolt or latch actuating device, and an alarm mechanism operated from the latch-actuating device when the latter is operated to permit the box to be opened, of a yielding-spring resistance placed in and forming a portion of the connection between the alarm mechanism and the bolt or latch actuating device, said spring-resistance being susceptible of either transmitting power from the latch-actuating device to the alarm mechanism when the latch is in working condition or of simply presenting a yielding resistance to the free action of the latch-actuating device at such times as the alarm mechanism may be inoperative, substantially' as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with a fire-alarm-signal box, of the local-alarm mechanism, the latch or bolt operating device, and a coiled spring, P, interposed in a connection between said local-alarm mechanism and the latch or bolt operating device, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the alarm-striking mechanism, of the latch-actuating device, a spring, P, connecting the said alarm mechanism with gearing which is operated from thelatch-actuating device, and means for placing said latch-actuating device in positive'connection with the gearing when it is operated to draw back thelatch or bolt, but permitting a free reverse action on the part of the latchactuating device independent of said gearing, substantially as described.

4. rlhe combination, with the latch-actuating handle, of the gear I, a pawl-and-ratchet connection between the spindle of the handle and the gear, an alarm striking mechanism, and power-transmitting connection between the alarm-striking mechanism and the said gear I, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the fire-alarm box, of the handle, having its spindle extended into the box and adapted to engage and, operate the latch or bolt, the gear I, having a pawland-ratchet connection with said handle, a pawl for checking a back motion on the part of said gear, and a spring connecting a cog y JOHN ASHWORTH.

'Vitnesses:

Crus. G. PAGE, L. S. LOGAN. 

